Can RAW images be already somewhat cooked?

Sensors often eliminate particular kinds of fixed pattern noise (e.g., row and column noise, hot and dead pixels). This is greatly beneficial to the image and presents essentially no drawbacks. At very high ISOs, however, some manufacturers apply a more systematic noise reduction filter to eliminate noise at pixel level. In this case, the gain is can be objectionable: there is indeed an increase of SNR in homogeneous areas, but it is not likely that this noise reduction will be as elaborate as RAW converter noise reduction on textured areas with fine details. Moreover, RAW converters will get better over time, whereas noise reduction on the sensor itself will continue to definitively eliminate some information and thus affect detail resolution.

Further readings for the Can RAW images be already somewhat cooked?

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Launched in September 2009, the Leica M9 is the first full-frame (24x36mm) rangefinder camera provided by the famous German brand. For its top of the line camera, Leica provides a new 18 Mpix CCD sensor. It is important to note that Leica is the only brand that still makes cameras with CCD sensors; all other main full-frame cameras have CMOS sensors.

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